The Building 
of the Church 
Among Village 
Communities 


Rev. €. H. Bandy, D.D. 


The Board of Foreign Missions 
of the 


Presbyterian Church in the U, S. A. 
156 Fifth Avenue, New York City 


0Ci 2.9 1918 


Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2023 with funding from 
Columbia University Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/buildingofchurchOOband 


The Building of the Church 
Among Village Communities 
Rev. C. H. Bandy, D.D. 


GEOGRAPHY 


Sixty to eighty years ago, when the three 
American Presbyterian Missions in India 
were crystallizing into separate organiza- 
tions, each took the name of the most 
prominent town within its own bounds. 
Thus the Mission in the Punjab became 
“The Ludhiana Mission.” That now known 
as the Western India Mission was called 
“The Kolhapur Mission.” The North India 
Mission was then not improperly called 
“The Furrukhabad Mission.” But railways 
have made or ruined cities in India, even 
as in Western lands. Furrukhabad City has 
been left on the map, it is true; but it has 
been eclipsed by Cawnpore, Allahabad and 
Jhansi, which have got on to nearly all the 
main lines running north and south, east 
and west, while Furrukhabad is struggling 
for a diminishing prestige on a couple of 
branch lines. 


Ten or twelve years ago, when the three 
Missions were re-christened, the Punjab 
people and the Western India people found 
their names in the geography. Punjab and 
Western India Missions they were and 
could be nothing else; but not so the 
North India Mission. It was not East; it 
was not North; and it was a long way from 
the center. Several names were suggested, 
but the spirit of compromise prevailed, and 
we settled upon the inaccurate and un- 
poetic name, “North India Mission.” 


a 


re) 


POPULATION 

The North India Mission is in two great 
alluvial valleys of the Ganges and Jumna 
Rivers, the most densely populated rural 
portion, and the most typically Indian por- 
tion of India, and with an unshared re- 
sponsibility for the Presbyterian Church, 
U. S. A., of seven millions of people. 


Here the castes and the sub-castes are 
nearly all represented, and, as to be expect- 
ed in so dense a population, sociai lines are 
very rigidly drawn. Here, to be a Brahman 
means much, and to be an outcaste wouid 
be unspeakably terrible if the people them- 
selves regarded it so, but the outcastes each 
have a caste or sub-caste upon which they 
look down, and so even the lowest have 
contrived to maintain a certain self-respect. 


A RETROSPECT 

The work which I shall attempt to de- 
scribe had its beginnings twenty-two years 
ago. Then there were fewer Indian minis- 
ters, fewer Christian teachers, fewer local 
Church officers, and fewer Church members 
at the end of the twenty-two years than at 
the beginning. 


Cur Mission gatherings were times of 
heart searching. In a gathering of young 
missionaries, one brother caught a momen- 
tary vision and prayed the Lord for a large 
gathering of souls; and, after a little hesita- 
tion, he said, “O Lord, a thousand this | 
year.” Then, almost in a sob, he con- 
tinued, “Canst Thou trust us with so 
many?” But we had no sooner got off our 
knees than the brother was conscience 
smitten for having presumed to ask for so 
many. At first we were all a bit stunned, 
but we soon recovered; and a thousand 
souls that year, and that God would make 
us good enough and wise enough to care 
for them, became a regular petition in our 
prayers. 


The way seemed closed among caste peo- 
ple. Brahman organization had beaten us to 
a standstill, and apparently our only chance 
for an answer to that prayer was from 
among the untouchables. The Bhangis ap- 
pealed to us. They were socially at the 
bottom, the lowest of the low; but they 
were more self-respecting than some others, 
and less debased morally. However, Hindu 
social organization had placed them at the 
bottom and had apparently crushed out of 
them all aspirations for anything different. 


Among these Bhangis some of us began 
work in real earnest. At our first annual 
“round-up” we had baptized only about one- 
half the number we had been asking for. 
Maybe our faith was only half as large as 
our asking. It was, however, a beginning 
of larger things. 


Twenty-two years ago we had all told a 
Christian community of nine hundred and 
forty three. Today the growth is fully 
seven hundred per cent, while the village 
work has grown out of nothing into a 
village Christian community numbering 
twenty-three thousand five hundred. 


The village Christians have been or- 
ganized into eighty-nine churches, thirteen 
of which have developed into complete or- 
ganizations, and a number of the remain- 
ing seventy-six are complete in form, await- 
ing only the ordination ceremony of elders, 
which is occurring as rapidly as the men 
prove themselves worthy. 


The old-time preachers and teachers were 
by training and tradition not adapted to the 
new work. They had no confidence in the 
outcome of the people, and, with here and 
there a noble exception, they had no liking 
for the insult and humiliation they were 
called upon to endure for the sake of their 
people. For it is literally true that every 
real servant of an outcaste people must be- 


& 


come an outcaste himself. I was once teach- 
ing a number of Christians when one of my 
audience was called away to answer ques- 
tions. “Who is this Bhangi European?” 
“Your honor, he is our ‘Padri,’ our mission- 
ary.” “Was he a Bhangi in his own land?” 
“No, your honor, he was at least a swine 
herd” (the caste just higher). Both ques- 
tions and answers reveal the utter inability 
of either Hindu or Christian to understand 
our position or our motives. If the Chris- 
tian had said, “Oh no, he was a great sahib 
in his own land, ” aside from its being a 
solace to wounded pride, it would have re- 
vealed the fact that he knew we were down 
with him to lift him up. 


The Indian minister, by reason of his 
greater susceptibility and because of the 
infinitely more brutal treatment he has to 
endure, is the real sufferer. Many of our 
very good men could not stand it, and were 
soon found to be seeking more congenial 
employment elsewhere. Only an occasional 
saint of high caste origin has really become 
a Bhangis to the Bhangis. 


THE SOLUTION 


The solution is ministers and teachers 
from among the people themselves. But an 
adequate village school system in such a 
work must precede an adequate ministry 
and teaching staff. Of the Christians in 
these villages, scarcely one could read till 
Christianity gave them their chance. Even 
so they do not show much eagerness, and 
most of them doubt their ability till we con- 
vince them that they can learn. 


We have had schools from the first, but 
until recently scarcely one had succeeded. 
Teachers have complained that the pupils 
would not attend, and pupils have com- 
plained that the teachers did not teach. 
Causes for failure may be summed up in 


6 


three sentences: First, little desire on the 
part of teachers for their disreputable work; 
second, little interest on the part of pupils 
and parents; and third, opposition on the 
part of caste people, to outcastes learning to 
read, such opposition resulting in aggra- 
vated cases, in head-breaking affairs. The 
dilemma, briefly stated, was precisely this: 
We could have no schools without teachers 
from among the people themselves, and we 
could not make teachers without schools. 
It was a desperate situation, and it was by 
inspiration that we found a way out. Sta- 
tion after station began to start little train- 
ing schools into which a dozen or more 
bright young leaders were brought. They 
were preferably married men. They were 
paid a stipend of about $2 a month, Upon 
the completion of a four years’ course in 
the Bible and in reading, writing and 
arithmetic, and a short course in theology, 
they were turned back into the work of 
preacher-teachers, and a useful lot of men 
they have proved themselves to be. 


These training schools have been con- 
solidated into one school. The best of 
these preacher-teachers we are sending on 
to our Theological Seminary at Saharanpur, 
where, after a two years’ course, they are 
returned to us with village-pastor certifi- 
cates. These village-pastors and preacher- 
teachers are gradually solving our greatest 
difficulty. Natural gifts and downright 
earnestness sometimes make up for lack of 
eatly opportunity. Among these village 
pastors is an occasional man who compares 
favorably in point of ability with our higher 
grade Seminary graduates. Such men are 
receiving ordination and are being installed 
as pastors. Others, upon receiving calls 
from village churches or groups of churches, 
are receiving a temporary license which, 
with us, makes them vice- moderators of 
their church sessions under the missionary, 
and gives them the right to solemnize mar- 


7 


riages and to administer the sacraments 
only, however, so long as they remain con- 
nected with the church or group of churches 
calling them. This license, however, does 
not give them a standing in Presbytery. 
Thus all the needs of our village churches 
are being met, at least in so far as men of 
this low grade can do it; and, at the same 
time, we are not ordaining numbers of men 
who in years to come would be out of place 
in our Presbyteries, and who are not likely 
to continue many years really acceptable 
among the churches. Moreover, men of far 
better training will be required, if we are 
to expect continued progress in our village 
community life. 


MAKING THE SCHOOLS BETTER 


Among these village Christians there are 
at a low estimate eight or nine thousand 
children of school age. We need to make 
our present schools better, and as soon as 
possible to open schools for the remaining 
seven-eighths of our village Christian chii- 
dren. Then, as children outgrow the village 
schools, we should have more advanced 
schools in convenient centers for them to 
graduate into, thus leading right on up to 
our station high schools, and our high 
schools should be turning the choicest and 
best, literally by the hundred, into our 
Theological Seminary. Such a program is 
not one bit too ambitious. For years to 
come we will need every good man we can 
lay hands on for this growing Christian 
community, and even if we should some day 
catch up with the needs of our Christian 
community, there is always waiting for us 
the other millions, for whom we, as a Mis- 
sion, are responsible. Even an army of 
evangelists would not much more than 
touch the fringe of these multitudes in this 
generation. 


COMING EN MASSE 

At the start we had no idea of this work 
becoming a mass movement. But we soon 
discovered that the people wouid come en 
masse or not at all. They have been drawn 
in upon themselves by a harsh and unsym- 
pathetic outside world till the brotherhood 
has become a sacred thing. They come to 
us in large numbers, and if they leave us 
at any time, they will leave in the same way. 
The old brotherhood will in time give place 
to a really Christian brotherhood, but it 
will be even then a brotherhood knitting 
them very closely together. 


All relinquishing of ancient rites and 
practices and acceptance of Christian rites 
has been the product of brotherhood coun- 
cils. The minister or missionary who has 
not found a way of influencing or leading 
them en masse will not get very far with 
them, 


After they have become Christians, the 
first struggie with them has usually been to 
get the women to attend services with the 
men. This can be accomplished, but only 
through an organization in which the lead- 
ing men or “CHAUDHRIES” representing 
the people are won over to our side. 


THE KEY TO THE SITUATION 

It is pretty generally accepted among 
mass movement workers that the Chaud- 
hries are the key to nearly every situa- 
tion. We, being Presbyterians, call them 
“KASIS,” or Elders; and the organization 
of these Elders in a given group we call 
the Session. Whether one name be used 
or the other, it is the same thing. It is 
local church government by means of Rul- 
ing Elders. 


In earlier days our Presbyteries were 
doubtful about the outcome of this work. 
The attitude was such that it was found im- 


g 


practicable to organize churches or to ad- 
mit the people to the communion. It was 
an anomalous condition of things. Thou- 
sands had been admitted to the sacrament 
of baptism who had been denied participa- 
tion in the Lord’s Supper. For years there 
appeared no remedy. 


Other defects arising out of this attitude 
of Presbyteries were remedied in the Chris- 
tian Endeavor organization. It was dis- 
covered that the committee phase of Chris- 
tian Endeavor was capable of surprising de- 
velopments. Soon there began to be com- 
mittees of leading men who perfcrmed 
practically the function of Ruling Elders. A 
standing committee of Presbytery was ap- 
pointed with power. They made a circuit 
of the Presbytery and received into the 
communion such believers as could pass 
creditable examinations in Christian knowl- 
edge, but the Christian Endeavor Elder was 
not recognized. However, bands of be- 
lievers, who had satisfied the committee as 
to their religious knowledge, were organized 
into local groups without Elders, known as 
imperfectly organized churches. But local 
government, through leading men, was 
here to stay. Many of these leading men 
were not even church members, but they 
were needed just to hold things together. 


In the station with which the writer is 
most familiar, these men are initiated into 
the office of “NAIB,” or sub-ruling Elder, 
by an appropriate ceremony not amounting 
to ordination. And, so far as possible, regu- 
lar session meetings are being held. 


THE OUTLOOK 


This village work has never more than 
nominally become linked up with the Pres- 
bytery. The churches know their mission- 
ary and they know their pastors, but their 
notion of the Presbytery and their proper 


10 


relation to it is vague. The Presbytery, 
moreover, has not adapted itself in the least 
to village needs. One might say, without 
fear of exaggeration, that though sub- 
merged in this large village community, the 
Presbytery as such is scarcely conscious of 
it. There are reasons for this which I must 
not take time to more than sum up in two 
or three brief sentences, to wit, that though 
the Presbytery is overwhelmingly Indian in 
membership, yet it is essentially American. 
The ministers have grown familiar with its 
business routine. They know its forms and 
love them and are loath to change. 


There was an effort recently to split this 
Presbytery up into three smaller Pres- 
byteries, but that failed. Another project 
was to have the village workers in each dis- 
trict and the village elders set apart as a 
Commission to deal with all matters re- 
lating to the village work of that district 
and to report annually to Presbytery for 
review. Should this succeed, our aim in 
this district is to organize the Commission 
precisely as a Presbytery; to call it a Pres- 
bytery and to think of it ourselves as a 
Presbytery, with the confidence that when 
it has served its apprenticeship as a Com- 
mission it will come into its own and be 
set apart as a Presbytery. Meanwhile, it, 
too, will be doing its work about as well 
as a real Presbytery would do it. 


There is still another rather important 
item for consideration which, however, has 
not found its place in the scheme of this 
article. When we organized these bands 
of believers or churches, we tried to or- 
ganize at convenient centers, geographically. 
This is found now to have been a mistake. 
In almost every instance it has done 
violence to the old brotherhood boundaries, 
Sometimes it has broken the old brother- 
hood into five or six parts so that no one 
church has separate liberty of action. We 


Il 


are now regrouping, so as to make the 
churches coincide with brotherhood lines. 
In a large “JAMAAT” several churches are 
subject to a single session covering its en- 
tire territory. In a few instances we have 
merged smaller churches. In one district 
eight such churches. were merged and were 
struck from the Presbyterial roll. In a 
few cases it was found that the church 
was organized with people from two or 
more Jamaats. Of course, that had to be 
remedied, and was easily done. 


Preaching the Gospel has all along taken 
first place in our thought and effort. We 
have firmly believed in the power and ef- 
ficiency of the Gospel to save and lift these 
people, and we have not believed in much 
else. Yet it is equally true that if these 
other things pertaining to life and or- 
ganization had not been studiously met, the 
Gospel message might never have impinged 
upon their needy and helpless lives. 


September, 1918. 


ForRM NO, 2623 


